5 Oscar Nominated Robot Animations to Make You Cry

Arco has been nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, and a Critic’s Choice Award. It’s an impressive list for Ugo Bienvenu’s French animation, and if you haven’t seen it, it’s a beautiful, eccentric film about a ten year old boy, Arco, who mistakenly travels from the year 2932 to 2075.

If you liked the emotional sci-fi of Arco and want more Oscar-nominated films about robots to make you cry, here are my suggestions (plus my review of Arco too).

1. Wall-E (2008) dir. Andrew Stanton

There’s sincerely no point in a sad robot list if I don’t include Pixar’s classic Wall-E.

Image from the movie Wall-E. Two robots are in space dancing around each other, one holding a fire extinguisher.

Following a trash robot who explores the wasteland that once was Earth, the almost-silent protagonist suddenly becomes the light of the cause to bring humans back to Earth. Depressing in the way that the world of Wall-E is becoming more and more of a reality, but sincerely uplifting in the way the world could be saved by two misfit robots and a single plant. Many tears have been shed at the fire extinguisher scene set to Thomas Newman’s “Define Dancing”.

2. Robot Dreams (2023) dir. Pablo Berger

For a film that has no dialogue and relies on its gorgeous animation and needledrops of September by Earth, Wind & Fire, it is a tearfest.

Image from the movie Robot Dreams. A dog and a robot are in a photobooth. The dog is putting up peace signs, one behind the robot's head.

There are distinct similarities to a sad film that came out in the same year that I can not reference for spoilers’ sake, but it doesn’t help that both made me cry like a baby. A dog buys a robot for companionship, and both experience love and loss with the backdrop of 1980s’ New York. I love this film for its lack of dialogue and how the characters are lovable through their actions and love for another. Bring tissues.

3. Big Hero 6 (2014) dir. Chris Williams, Don Hall

Big Hero 6 accentuates the importance of found family, especially in a time of grief and catastrophe.

Image from the movie Big Hero 6. The robot, Baymax, is hugging the boy, Hiro, from behind.

A delightful, colourful cast of characters accompanied by the softest robot in possibly robot history, it has spawned a few Disney shows but unfortunately, not a sequel. It’s one of the first animated films I saw that addressed mental health directly, and the weight of grief when someone dies. The film does not shy away from the angrier parts of grieving, and instead takes the viewer by the hand and tells you it’s okay to feel. There are some devastating scenes to contrast the iconic Baymax scenes (“Hairy baby!”), but nonetheless it’s one where you should prepare yourself emotionally.

4. The Wild Robot (2024) dir. Chris Sanders

Based on a popular children’s novel series, The Wild Robot was adapted by the wonderful Chris Sanders who you might know from Lilo and Stitch.

Image from The Wild Robot. The robot Roz is touching foreheads with a gosling.

Immersed in the beautiful island inhabited by different species, a robot finds herself unexpectedly in charge of a gosling. The animation is stunning with a very hand-painted feel, along with a wonderful cast (Lupita Nyong’o, Kit Connor, Pedro Pascal), there are many moments in this film that emphasise the importance of setting aside each other’s differences and forming a community. Watching the goose, Brightbill, grow up with the help of Roz the robot is heartwarming and a massive tear-fest. The training montage set to Maren Moriss’ “Kiss The Sky” is not only an endurance test for Brightbill, but also of how long one can hold back their tears.

5. The Mitchells Vs. The Machines (2021) dir. Mike Rianda

Ending the list on a happier note, The Mitchells Vs. The Machines make the robots the villain instead.

Image from The Mitchells Vs. The Machines. A family of four and two robots are looking upwards.

Regardless, it’s a robot movie that makes me cry. With a girl’s dream to become a film-maker, her family go on a road trip to take her to her dream school and encounter the robot apocalypse. Not necessarily depressing robots, but there are moments in this film that are tear-worthy. Though, the two robots (voiced by SNL alumni Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett) that are side characters in the film are great comedic relief in an already very funny movie. Plus, the main villain robot is voiced by Olivia Colman, so I don’t really think you could want much more in a film.

Honourable Mention: The Iron Giant (1999) dir. Brad Bird

Though not Oscar-nominated, it is arguably the one that makes me cry the most on this list, The Iron Giant is a classic 2D animated film that taught little kids about loss and sacrifice. There are many iconic lines from the film that have lived on, but I think the everlasting legacy of The Iron Giant is the friendship that Hogarth, the boy, forms with the supposed nuclear weapon that is the giant robot. Being Brad Bird’s directorial debut, he based the entire premise on the concept of “What if a gun had a soul?”, which should tell you enough about how watching this film does feel like getting shot.

Image from The Iron Giant. The Iron Giant is holding Hogarth in his hand.

Arco Review

★★★★☆ Wholly original and independently made, it is a gorgeous film filled with endless colours and artistic liberty (animated with a seamless mix of 2D, 3D, and rotoscoping animation). It has a unique design to its characters that goes for more of a realistic feel than that of a cartoony-look. Everything in the movie feels fantastical, whimsical, with the world-building details of hovering shopping trolleys, domestic robots, or a dome to protect one’s house from a storm.

Image from Arco. A little girl is riding a boy's back as he wears a cape of rainbow colours.

The core of the film is between Arco (the time traveller) and Iris (the girl who finds him). Both lonely kids, they build a beautiful relationship based on their need to be known and seen. It’s a clear and genuine friendship that neither of them have had before.

I also want a group of three men like that of Dougie, Frankie, and Stewie in every movie I watch from now on. Providing great comic relief (seriously, they’re voiced by Andy Samberg, Will Ferrell, and Flea) with their failures to capture Arco, their characters provide levity to an otherwise sad film.

Dougie, Frankie, and Stewie *Concept art*, *courtesy of Neon and Remembers.*

That’s my one critique of the film, I think, is that it felt like it was farming me for sadness. Without any spoilers, it felt like there were five scenes back to back that were the equivalent of someone punching you in the stomach, kicking your shins, and then cutting onions right under your nose. And as much as I love robots, I’ve seen enough films about them that make me cry.